Myths and Lies of Ithyion

by Laura Carter

This collection of prequel stories should be read after Return of the Darkness and before Truth of the Light. It is a part of the main series and reading it elsewhere would cause spoilers or confusion.

ASYNTHOS’ Commander & escaped prisoner

THASSENA’S prophesised seer & academic

ERESYDON’s Queen & unstable King

Q’OHAR’s New princess & guard

In a battle of who can recover the love of their life first, a Goddess and a man lost to darkness are forced to confront that their paths of fate are intertwined. As they use all the celestial power at their disposal, four couples become collateral damage when living without love is not an option.

But love is not always the happy ending people deserve and these unknowing victims in Ithyion will soon realise that sometimes the greatest act of love, is to sacrifice it all. But how many times can a Goddess and a man repeat their failures and inflict the pain of past lives on other unwilling souls?

480 pages, Paperback

Published September 4, 2025

About the author

Laura grew up in rural Scotland before moving to London to study for her degree in English Literature, where she lived for ten years before moving back to the countryside with her Romanian rescue dog, Rez. She grew up constantly immersed in different worlds through reading and always dreamed of becoming an author. When her love of fantasy and romance was re-ignited after three years of only ever critically analysing work, her dream of creating her own worlds returned. She now balances working full time for a cancer charity with writing her debut series, The Lost Kingdom Saga.

Reviews

[Maia McPherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is the best novella/middle book I have ever read. The way Laura wrote each character’s story was remarkable and she made me fall in love with them all in such a short period of time. The details, the world building, the emotions, I adored it all. I’m always left wanting more. I am heartbroken to leave some of the characters in this book behind and even a villain or two.

This is a must read for any fantasy/romantasy lovers of multiple POVs, magic, stories over different time periods and love destined for disaster.

[Christinatoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

the way that Laura writes will always be addictive.
The way I connected to every character in the story in such small amounts of time is amazing. I am not prepared for the pain the reread will cause me 🩷seriously 100/5 wth 🤯🥹

[Sammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Laura writes, I just eat up. The way she tells her stories is addicting and I am always left wanting more. I am obsessed with this series and will be distraught when it ends.

This book of short stories sets the back story of the God's, deities, and Novisia. It was the book I didn't know I needed, and despite having read books 1 through 3, so am aware of what has happened and who is in what, I still had a little "Oh no" moment when a certain someone was going to be invited to document a new land. If you've read this, you'll know.

I can't wait for Truth of the Light now. I have so many questions that need answers although, in true Laura fashion, I imagine I will be left with even more questions when I finish that book too!

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay I need Truth of the Light like right now!!

[elentiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

this girl OVERDELIEVERS every. single. time. honestly - the first surprise was the book itself - not a word did she whisper, and normally i sign up to all her arcs just because i love her writing so so much! i am so glad that i managed to grab a copy and i have FINALLY finished it (it did take me a while). short stories that expand over thousands of years, and they all have the same goal. It's honestly so interesting to see how much we missed (actually crazy), however i will say there was SO much i'm definitely going to need to reread the whole series and then piece everything together

[Jenny Atack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went into this book, excited ofcourse, but also thinking it would be a nice little addition to the series, a breather, a world building backstory book. BUT NO! Somehow in a book of short stories, each story managed to make fall in the love with the each character and then shatter my heart into a million pieces!!

Lauras writing is spectacular and holds a serious amount of emotion and the attention to detail she has throughout the whole series is incredible! I cannot wait (although i’m terrified for my heart) for Truth of the Light in March😍

Masterpiece!🤌🏼
⭐️♾️

[what chlo reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Myths and Lies of Ithyion Review - Little to No Spoiler Review;

🤍 8 Short Stories
🤍 Rating: 5/5
🤍 Genre: Fantasy
🤍 Multiple POV, Third Person
🤍 Spin Off - The Lost Kingdom

"Rage looks beautiful on you"

This review will contain minor spoilers for Return of the Darkness, although this is a prequel and ends before Secrets of the Dead, it's recommended you read it after RotD (book three) but before TotL (book four) just to save yourself some spoilers and confusion!

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Well - what a secret this one has been to keep! Firstly thank you Laura for trusting me with keeping this one a secret, I am so proud of you for not writing one but TWO books at the same time. Your brain is absolutely magnificent and I can't wait for people to read this masterpiece.

As we know by the end of RotD the world is not what it seems and it is about to get a whole lot bigger, the realms we thought we knew actually weren't and there was more?! We were introduced to 8 different characters in Elisara's dreams who all had celestial ties and we were shown how their stories ended. Laura being the absolute overachiever she is (and I mean that in the best way possible cause me too girl) said hey - here's all their origin stories in a book!

The short stories include;

🤍 Asynthos's Commander & Escaped Prisoner - Olirah & Jessemiah
🤍 Thassena's Prophesied Seer & Academic - Levanna & Kai
🤍 Eresydon's Queen & Unstable King - Aleya & Evander
🤍 Q'Ohar's New Princess & Guard - Varlena & Hamzah

We also learn a little more about the creation of the world, see some characters we have heard a lot about and get a glimpse into the other states of Ithyion - Xyliar and Carvyre. Each story battles love and loss, sacrifice's have to be made to help the Kingdom, but there is always a cost - sadly not all love stories have a happy ending. When reading RotD I was so intrigued by all these characters, especially because they mirrored those in our current world of Novisia. Reading a book about love and fate when you know how the stories end was a very weird feeling because I was sat their absolutely rooting for the happy ending even though I knew it wouldn't come - PAINFUL! Laura made me fall in love with them all and getting to know them more just made their stories even more heartbreaking, they had to be collateral damage in this world but in another world/lifetime I'm cheering them all on for their happy endings. Laura manages to make me feel so many different emotions when reading her books, I was angry, happy, laughing and crying all in such a short space of time.

"When a person spends their entire life in darkness, it's hard to imagine anything different"

It's hard to choose a favourite but each time I got onto a new story I said "wait no this is my favourite" HOWEVER if I was going off gut reaction it would be Q'Ohar first following by Thassena, Eresydon and Asynthos but it's honestly like asking me to choose a favourite child (dare I say Xyliar's backstory is up there too - wait what? Read it and find out I guess..)

We also get 7 new maps so it is super easy to know exactly where you are when reading each story, along with a "family tree" so you can ssee the lineage of all characters we meet and how they related to our current characters. There is also a history of Ithyion graph too and of course the usual pronunciation guide and glossary!

I want people do go into this completely raw like me however if you want to know a few tropes/key features for the stories then I'll pop a list below however I won't tell you which state or couple they relate too..

🤍 Forbidden Love
🤍 LGBTQ+ Representation
🤍 Rivals to Lovers
🤍 Fated Souls
🤍 Friends to Lovers
🤍 Yearning
🤍 Celestial Ties
🤍 Darkness

Trigger Warnings: death, violence, explicit sexual content, references to child abuse, self harm, not graphic but on page sexual assault and rape - please read with caution and this book is aimed at 18+ readers.

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Words will never do Laura's books justice, the world she has created is absolutely magnificent and it is such an honour to be on this journey with her not only as a friend but as a supporter too. I am so excited for the next instalment in The Lost Kingdom Saga! So proud of you always Laura 🤍

P.S I will probably keep adding to this review as I've got so much more to say they are just a bit too spoilery!!

[Beccy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Perhaps you are my compass, the only thing I need to navigate this life.”

Myths and Lies of Ithyion by Laura Carter 🌙☀️🌅

My favourite in the series so far, this book is very different to the others in the series as it’s comprised of several short stories. However it’s an essential component in order to understand a lot of the driving forces for our characters (and gods!). Plus I love getting some good lore/back story!

One of the aspects I love about Laura’s writing is the emotional depth of her characters - the way she can make you fall in love with characters with only an 11 chapter short story feels effortless. Each story is equally as heartbreaking, but the familiar thread of fate and celestial ties is still unique and extremely well executed each time. Also just listened to some of the playlists for each story and I’m crying again 😭

Cannot wait for book 4! I was fortunate enough to recover this beautiful surprise ARC package, Laura surprises me every time and I’m forever grateful!

[Riley Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laura is truly a masterclass writer in world building and plot details!

If you think there will ever be a stone left unturned or a question left unanswered in this series, you will respectfully be incorrect! Laura truly is so insanely detail oriented when it comes to this world and the stories within it. This collection of short stories takes the world of Ithyion and dives deeper into it in a way that I never thought could happen but somehow Laura managed to pull it off!

If you haven’t checked out this series and you love fantasy you are truly doing a disservice to yourself!! Laura is a masterclass fantasy writer and everything she touches is absolute GOLD! I can’t recommend this series enough!

Thank you Laura for allowing me to continue to support you and this series🤍

[Charlie Quarmby · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way that these short stories captured me in every moment, there are certainly some characters that will stick with me whilst i continue in the lost kingdom saga

Laura you have done it again and I am amazed at your talent this was beautifully written

[Hayley Tomkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, Laura has done it again. This book answers so many questions but also leaves a lot to be told. This book was amazing and leaves me needing the next book. The world and history Laura has created is beyond compression. Its beautiful, deep and complex. I am obsessed with it.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Myths and Lies of Ithyion had me hooked. Great world building, with characters whose stories I cared about, and plenty of twists. Just when you think you know what’s going on nope. You don’t 😂 A really solid fantasy read and an easy recommendation from me ❤️

[Emily Pollitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is definitely necessary to understand the darkness that was introduced in the earlier books. I did find myself getting confused if i put the book down for a day, due to alot of characters and remembering whats what, but it was easy to pick back up on again.

[Katherine Denning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laura never disappoints and this book was so amazing, I love this series! 🫶

[KittMyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best Novella and one of my favourite books of the year! I fell in love with every character in this collection of stories and have re-read Asynthos 3 times!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Laura you have amazed me. I have loved connecting with the past… and gaining a deeper understanding of your world 🖤 I can’t wait for TotL 💜

[Sian Gathergood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of answers
Lots of questions
Lots of Easter Eggs
Lots of heartbreak.

The PERFECT in-between book.